My Little Tuxedo

I acquired this little guy in Texas more than ten years ago. A friend found him in a dumpster behind a Sonic. When we took him to the vet to get him checked out, she said he was about three months old - a domestic short hair of the type commonly called a "Tuxedo" due to the black and white markings. Adorable and very loving... will sit in the right lap for hours and demand to be petted.

In terms of day to day care, he is a very easy pet. He's an indoor cat; we don't mind tending to the litter box, and supposedly indoor cats live longer. He took to litter training immediately, as many cats seem to. Our vet advised a diet of mixed wet and dry food, and he seems content with it. We've adjusted the type and calories as he's gotten older, but otherwise it's the same. We've never had to bathe him. He's never had any skin conditions and is still perfectly able to clean himself adequately. Regular brushing seems to keep him looking nice.

His health has been pretty much perfect. Aside from when we had him neutered, I can't remember a time that we had to take him to the vet, other than for normal check-ups. He's not at all happy about getting in the pet carrier for that car ride, though. Once at the clinic, he's generally well-behaved, though he's clearly not very happy about being there.

When he was little, he was very active - running around like mad, chasing shadows and whatnot. We played with him constantly with soft toys and laser pointers, and we always had toy mice laying around. Now that he's older, he's much more inclined to lay about, though he still gets excited when we bring out the toys.

He is friendly and curious... a little wary of strangers when they first arrived at the house. Once the guests had been around for a half-hour or so, he comes out to greet everyone. He's quite social and affectionate. He's not very excited about babies or small children most of the time. Typically, he avoids them.

He gets along well with other cats, though we have been cautious and slow to introduce them (sequestering the new cat in the bathroom for a couple of days to give them time to get used to the new presence and smells). He does NOT at all like dogs and does everything in his power to stay away from them.

And as you see from the picture, he's learned to sit up. We didn't teach him this trick. He did it on his own, and we've encouraged it with tons of positive reinforcement, because it's cute. He does it any time he wants attention... just walks up and sits like that.